N/S North Carolina is finalizing a deal for Bill Belichick to be next Tarheels head coach [Belichick agrees to 5 year deal with UNC] (1 Viewer)

[RaginCajun83]

Actually I think CFB benefits the Belichick type more than the Saban type now. Saban's #1 quality was his ability to recruit monstrous teams. Now? If a kid's unhappy, he's in the portal and gone. Kid gets a better offseason contract offer? He's in the portal and gone. College football offseasons are much closer to NFL free agency than the old days of recruiting. Kids are looking for money above all else. Saban saw the writing on the wall and wisely dipped.

Like when Payton saw the Saints upcoming salary cap

 

[RaginCajun83]

Can’t wait to see recruits having to pick between UNC and Colorado

 

[Saint Jack]

On a side note, I think this is part of North Carolina’s plan to change from a basketball school to a football school.

 

[Saint Jack]

Like when Payton saw the Saints upcoming salary cap

Payton stayed here for 16 years so unless a college player pulls a Van Wilder, you can’t make that comparison.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Im just thrilled about the news b/c of all the coaches with a realistic shot at being offered the Saints head coaching gig- Bellichick is the only one i was adamantly against .. so now he’s off the market, which is excellent.. dont go asking me who i DO want as the new Saints HC though , b/c I dont know- i only know who i didnt want .

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Well I thought Tulane's coach was also on their short list of finalist. I wonder how much he was asking for.

 

[bayoumilitia]

I have to say I'm surprised. I wouldn't have thought Belichick's persona would be a good fit for it. The current environment in college football has changed so rapidly just the past 5-7 years it's insane. Until the antitrust settlement money fully kicks in during next midsummer, it's a complete Wild West show right now. Millionaires and billionaires with certain ties to certain programs are dealing that funny-money like it's Monopoly.

Begs the question of whether Michael Jordan is involved with any NIL ventures at UNC? Bill's gonna need some big backers to compete in the current environment.

Definitely agree with ya on all accounts. I was just thinking it’s only going to be a matter of time before the NCAA revokes its 501C3 status just like the NFL. Once the NIL stuff started and the transfer portal shenanigans with boosters (acting as de facto agents for college football players). Not to mention the lure of the Vegas/betting money. Let’s face it, it has become all about the money and many of these division 1 programs are doing good but not so much the universities.

The NCAAs tax return for 2023 (https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/440567264) they showed their profits at $1.26B and expenses at $1.18B. The NFL made $20.24B. So comparatively speaking I think everyone can agree that there’s no way possible that the NCAA only made $1.26B between football, baseball, basketball, and all their other collegiate athletics. However, they probably made way more money but due to their “non profit/taxexempt” status they were forced to claim much less money. Similar to what the NFL did prior to 2015 until they forfeited their 501C6 tax exempt status.

Sure, the NFL and the owners pay more in taxes than ever before but they also can actually claim more revenue now more than ever before while also taking advantage of quite a few of their still 501C3 charitable organizations and their tax exemptions. So would it be so crazy for the NCAA to choose the same path that the NFL has. I know that there are many fans that believe that collegiate athletics are the last bastion of purity and true unpaid competitiveness but the reality is that’s no longer the case at least not for Division I football.

If the NCAA does go that route then I say just go the NFL route. Maximize merchandise, television/streaming and marketing revenue. Just make 2 super conferences American College Football Conference and the National College Football Conference and split up 8 - 16 (keep the SEC, ACC, BIG10, BIG12 names in the sub conference names) team conferences (126 teams) amongst the two with 2 divisions in each of the 4 sub conferences (north/south or east/west). Eliminate 8 division I programs which probably needs to happens anyways.

14 week season, 15 weeks, 1 bye per team. Maintain rivalry games but make the schedule similar to the NFL so that tie breakers, conference and divisional records can be used instead of a bowl committee. 8 sub conference winners get an automatic playoff spot then the next 8 get a spot based on their record then tiebreakers not rank. Play it out over 22-23 weeks from the last week of August until the last week of January. I’m pretty sure if Amazon or Hulu offered to stream LSU/Alabama on a Wednesday night every year (Or any SEC matchup) they would pay a pretty penny and dominate viewership for that night.

Like I said, just my 2 cents but if you do the math of what the NFL generates with 32 teams. I’d hate to see what the NCAA would generate with 126 with a similar format. That’s just if they forfeited 501C3 for just football (I’m not sure if they could just do football separately). Maybe they would, could and should do all sports because with March madness (men’s and women’s) and especially the college World Series I think the revenue streams on sports gambling alone would make the NFL money look like chump change.

 

[UFCSaint]

What a waste of money that will be. The man's record without Brady is pretty abysmal. Hiring a 72 year old ex-NFL coach who hasn't proven he can win without Brady...is not the smartest move.

 

[No2DC]

What a waste of money that will be. The man's record without Brady is pretty abysmal. Hiring a 72 year old ex-NFL coach who hasn't proven he can win without Brady...is not the smartest move.

It makes very little sense, but he is a name. This has to be about his son getting a couple of years experience but I don't know what Chapel Hill gets out of it. You can't deny his greatness, but the record without Tom is significant. I guess the house that Dean Smith built pays all of the bills on the sports side.

 

[SigFreudianSlip]

First coaching contract that has me questioning if the coach will even be alive at the end of it. Obviously I hope he is lol.

 

[DaveXA]

How is he going to recruit at his age? Good thing football is not their primary sport.

Ever heard of Zoom or any other video chat program/app?

I mean, he doesn't need to personally visit recruits' home. The world...and college football in particular...has changed. With the NIL and his name recognition and UNC's decent results in the last several years, Coach should be fine recruiting.

And I'm mildly surprised. I wasn't sure how serious he was but I didn't think he was intentionally wasting his or their time.

Some he said pro coaches don't take college jobs and that wasn't really true, and this adds to it.

I don't think he views it a demotion as much as maybe he wants a different experience and UNC offers that. He probably could have waited and coached another pro team next season, but he's his own guy and this is another chapter in his long illustrious career.

 

[DaveXA]

He won't last long. He'll quit within 2 years for the same reason Saban hung it up, it's not the same game anymore.

Players have become far too soft and entitled to take the Belichick coaching style.

Eh, Saban and Belichick are two completely different styles of coaches. They share some common traits, yes, but how they run a team and handle recruiting will be much different imo.

 

[DaveXA]

What a waste of money that will be. The man's record without Brady is pretty abysmal. Hiring a 72 year old ex-NFL coach who hasn't proven he can win without Brady...is not the smartest move.

You don't need a Brady to win a NC in CFB.

 

[DaveXA]

First coaching contract that has me questioning if the coach will even be alive at the end of it. Obviously I hope he is lol.

Sure, but of course not all 70 year Olds are created equal. My grandfather will be 99 in January and he was picking up and running with my kids when he was in his 70s.

I don't know what kind of shape Coach Belichick is in, but seems like he feels healthy ebough to keep doing it.

 

[Saint Jack]

What a waste of money that will be. The man's record without Brady is pretty abysmal. Hiring a 72 year old ex-NFL coach who hasn't proven he can win without Brady...is not the smartest move.

They gonna sell a few more season tickets.
They’re gonna get the prime time slots on Saturday night national TV.
They’re relevant.